Reasons why everyone should take SOPA and PIPA seriously.
SOPA stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act, which is the House of Representative's version, and
PIPA stands for the Protect IP ACT. Which is Very similar to SOPA, but being run in the Senate instead.
All the details about them, and why they would cause problems for everyone who uses the internet, not just those in the US, are below in the actual text.
Granted, I mostly talk about SOPA, PIPA is pretty much the exact same thing.
Chapter 1
Yup, I pay attention to current events. That way, I can explain things when kids on here have no clue.
by:
m3rcy616
m3rcy616
Though SOPA is currently tabled, it's not dead, the House of Representatives will resume on it in Februrary.
The idea behind these bills is to protect copyright holders from piracy.
The acts are filled with good intentions, but as they say "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions". Here's why in this case:
Protection against piracy is why the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA, for short) exists. The DMCA already gives copyright holders a process in which they can contact an online service provider or website about alleged copyright infringement, and if the infringement is true, the content is then taken down by the site. (long story short).
This is how things work right now, and, in my opinion (and the opinion of many others) it works just fine.
Because SOPA and PIPA were written far too broadly, they would allow copyright holders to pretty much attack the websites directly. Instead of going to the website or online service provider about copyright infringement, SOPA would allow the copyright holder to get a court order against the websites. It would effect the whole site, and not just the actual content or section of the site it's on.
This would then include advertising networks and other third-party associations to be barred access from working with the site, bar search engines from linking to the site, and have Internet Service providers block the all access to the site.
For those of you who've seen sites shut down for a day in protests, the above reasons are exactly why the sites shut themselves down. If this act passes, that's how it really would be, and it would be for more than just one day.
It would impact user-based websites the most (like Youtube, Quibblo, Gaia Online, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr.... you name it, it would be impacted.)
If this bill becomes law, then if a copyright holder finds alleged copyright infringement, then the whole site would be shut down if the claim if founded.
It doesn't matter even if you live outside the US, if you use a user-based site, it will be effected, and you in turn would be effected as well.
The only way websites would be able to avoid being shut down would be to review and monitor everything that is submitted before it gets posted.
In short, if this bill gets passed and made law, it would give the government way to much power over what would be posted on the net. A lot of jobs and websites would be potentially lost in the process, and schools that use databases for assignments could also be effected.
And if you guys want to know more on the bills, it's a simple Google search.
(and even Google put a censor over it's logo in protest.)
...This is also why it pays to pay attention to current events. They do effect you, no matter your age.
The idea behind these bills is to protect copyright holders from piracy.
The acts are filled with good intentions, but as they say "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions". Here's why in this case:
Protection against piracy is why the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA, for short) exists. The DMCA already gives copyright holders a process in which they can contact an online service provider or website about alleged copyright infringement, and if the infringement is true, the content is then taken down by the site. (long story short).
This is how things work right now, and, in my opinion (and the opinion of many others) it works just fine.
Because SOPA and PIPA were written far too broadly, they would allow copyright holders to pretty much attack the websites directly. Instead of going to the website or online service provider about copyright infringement, SOPA would allow the copyright holder to get a court order against the websites. It would effect the whole site, and not just the actual content or section of the site it's on.
This would then include advertising networks and other third-party associations to be barred access from working with the site, bar search engines from linking to the site, and have Internet Service providers block the all access to the site.
For those of you who've seen sites shut down for a day in protests, the above reasons are exactly why the sites shut themselves down. If this act passes, that's how it really would be, and it would be for more than just one day.
It would impact user-based websites the most (like Youtube, Quibblo, Gaia Online, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr.... you name it, it would be impacted.)
If this bill becomes law, then if a copyright holder finds alleged copyright infringement, then the whole site would be shut down if the claim if founded.
It doesn't matter even if you live outside the US, if you use a user-based site, it will be effected, and you in turn would be effected as well.
The only way websites would be able to avoid being shut down would be to review and monitor everything that is submitted before it gets posted.
In short, if this bill gets passed and made law, it would give the government way to much power over what would be posted on the net. A lot of jobs and websites would be potentially lost in the process, and schools that use databases for assignments could also be effected.
And if you guys want to know more on the bills, it's a simple Google search.
(and even Google put a censor over it's logo in protest.)
...This is also why it pays to pay attention to current events. They do effect you, no matter your age.
12 Comments
i am so conused.
This is why you should pay attention to current events.
This is going on now, and everyone should be aware of it.
Hollywood wants the bills to be passes, but a lot of other people oppose it with good reason.
Laws and bills should never be written so broadly.
Sorry if I seemed rude there.
I realized I didn't even ask what's confusing you.
OMIGOSH!!!!!! I don't want them taking my internet privacy! I don't want any creepy stalkers! I'm scared........ But thanks for letting me know =)
U weren't being rude. I think I am ADHD our something, beacause I was trying to figure out wat u meant in the story and I am just too stupid to know.
oh, to sum it up.
basically the house of representatives want to pass a bill that would greatly effect the internet. If this bill becomes law, and someone finds something of theirs on a site without permission, they can take it to court, instead of the website.
instead of just having the site take the thing down, the whole site would be effected or shut down.
And that would really effect sites like Quibblo, Youtube, twitter, Facebook, and basically any site that people can upload things.
Omg!!!!! I have a website tht I have pics on!!!! I don't wanna go to court at 11!!!! Btw: Thx 4 summing tht up 4 me. It makes sense now. :)
It only really mattes if this bill gets passed. And with as many people as there are who don't like it, I don't think it will.
But if the pics on your site are yours (as if you took the pictures, or made the image) then you're ok, even if this passes.
But it is a big deal, and can mean problems for a lot of businesses too.
Jobs could be lost if this thing passes.
It's actually a really dangerous bill, if it becomes law.
Oh, and no problem.
I'm pretty good at summing things up.
I thought I did in the actual text up there, but I guess younger teens and kids would have a tough time with it.
If this ends up happening, we might as while just throw our computers out the window and be Amish!
uh-huh, forget about communications, research, etc. as we know it.
If this passes, we really might as well to back 150 years of progress.
Copyright holders would take so much advantage of the situation, because that is what people do when something is in their favor, that we might as well shut it all down entirely, if this bill does pass.
If it was written more specifically, there wouldn't be such a problem here.
That's what makes it dangerous: How broad it was written.
It will be back to telephones, and U.S. Post offfice, if that doesent get screwed up too!!